Bayit Yehudi candidate petitions court for primary recount

Shimon Riklin petitioned the court for a recount Monday due to discrepancies.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Shimon Riklin (second from right) poses with Bayit Yehudi activists at Hebrew University (photo credit: Courtesy)
Shimon Riklin (second from right) poses with Bayit Yehudi activists at Hebrew University
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Bayit Yehudi could be forced to recount primary votes after candidate Shimon Riklin petitioned the court for a recount Monday due to discrepancies.
 
About 42,000 people voted in the primary, and each had 10 points that could be distributed to seven candidates – three with two points each and four with three points each.
 
The final vote count showed that there were over 470,000 points counted, nearly 50,000 extra.
 
A Bayit Yehudi spokesman explained the gap by saying that the computer counting the votes did not disqualify those who voted for seven candidates but were confused by how many get two points and how many one. In such cases, the computer was supposed to give all the candidates the voter chose one point, but an error occurred, giving them two points.
 
 
The spokesman said the party reviewed the problematic ballots and the candidates' ranking did not change, except for Riklin, who was moved one slot down.
 
Riklin, who reached the 23rd spot on the Bayit Yehudi list, said that despite his unrealistic ranking, "I told them I will help the party run. They sent me to conference. I'm not a complainer, but this is unbelievable. It's an outrage."
 
"I insist that all the forms be counted again and that [candidates] be told what is really happening," he wrote on Facebook. "Otherwise, something stinks here."
 
As of Monday afternoon, Bayit Yehudi spokesman Itamar Fleischman said there will not be a recount.
 
Riklin and other candidates complained of a lack of transparency in the vote-counting before the primary, and, as such, three observers, approved by a majority of candidates, were allowed to watch as votes were counted.